Malting plow machine



Jam l?, w50 D. GRIMALDl MALTING PLOW MACHINE 4 Shee'ts-Sheet l Filed DeG- l; 1946 lNVENTOR Jan. 17, 1950 D. GRIMALDI MALTING PLOW MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dec.

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Jam. 17, E950 D. GRIMALDI MALTING PLOW MACHINE 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Deo. 14, 1946 9m, www.

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BY A TO Jam.A 17, 1950 ,i l D GRlMALDl 2,495,096

MALTING PLOW MACHINE INVENTOR 24nd Gf, 'm (JX BY f ORNEY Patented Jan. 17, 1950 PLOW MACHINE `*David 'GrimaldgCrystal LakegN. J.

vapjication'December 14, .1946,--Serial No; 716.5383

"6 Glaims. ..1 `This invention relates to `alnovel plow'ior. .dis- Vcharging y .the grain .fromlvthefmalting compartments .vor ...beds .11sed= .in @the .,Saladin .system .of

:nialting .Inthe Salad-in systemafter .theiba'rleyhas :been

.csteeped' in water, it. is .,f.ed. ii1toLlongfnarrow,` rec- Y.tang-ular-melting i beds andere..4 itv remains during `vthe :germinationflperiod which-Maries according to the special practices of..ma1sters ,..but usually. .lasts .for vabout twelve days. .Thestee-ped.barleyhas a..

very high v.moisture .icontentmhen first fed .into the beds, ywhich. ,gradually :reduces .la-s ,-a..s11bstan tial vquantity c4of :bhe Water dnans .off.A through (..perforations in-` the bott/om.. lofmathe. bed. It., .still retainsV however, af-rsubstantial :omoistur.e.;content :when ready to l.,he1\emovedl.rom.the beds. Ap- .y ,proximately at intervals iofflftwelve lhours .it is turned-:by ver-ticalhelices offacturning machine i, whichftraverses theflengfth oflthelbed. C .The pur- ,npose vof this tunning-.iste aeraterthegrain,.check -.-.-excessiv-e temperature and .,lplzomote aan .even growth At Y.one -end of .thelfmalting hed. aihopper vis provided 1which)extendsbelow the-level .of .fthe .bed

.1.oor, and. rat thal bottom. :of Awlziic-,l-i:a-lscre-w conveyor carries the farai-n 1.awayflf-for. thenextstepin the malting process. ...ivLThis inventionisoncerned `.wholly .with-the means .-fonfdischarging.the .grain i i rom the bedtnte thehopper.

vThe means rrowA employed 'l in ithe .system men-.4.1;

necessary to manually-.diga-1trenchinlthe,refrain deep.. as is..desi1ed,...into which-...the plow isy manually placed, whereupon. sit..i.is..,drawn..to the .hopper end of the .-.bedfbyr thewinch, .two operators '.lhowcven. one at .each handcontrl bar,..r`idingl.the

fjlplow .andflkeepng v.inf propel; position. Itis@ customaryto digithelrstltrenh .aboutf`20-1feet .rom .the hopper, dischargelthepgrain that .sec-

` tion, and." then-.go back.. p11ogr.essively...at .intervals ...of about .'20 feet, dischargingeachsectionLin tur-n.

..method .of `plowing. slt isvldangerous. worlefor :the Y. operators,andaccidentsremet-infrequent. At the end of thebd,w"vhere-..the; turning -machine :when not...in`..usesllocatdliteisf'fnotfipossible' to place vthe 'plow .underitheitunningmachineclose The plank `isprovxided .with -abridleg :..to thehelices, so..thatlasubstantial quantity 'of :grain .is left` `at thatlend `which must be shovjeled by hand to a place in the bed wheltethe plow can reach it.

To .overcome these.. ldiilciilties and. others not .mentioned,. 1..-have provided a machine which under the controlofa singlek operator will com- ..pletely.remove.lthe grain.` from t'helbeol.v into the ...hoppen in less .time arid-far. more 'ciently than 10.

..loperaton 'by 'the .presentmethoda and with no hazard to the I I have provided ...a machine which icl-rives .theplow .into the ,grainmass to the `depth and ...,e1evates... it therefrom toV the heightdesred,

changes the pitth of the plow member as desired A.through a wide angle, so that at the hopper .end .-oflthe v.bed the,plow.mem`b.er may reach forward ,.uriderthecarria'geupon which itis mounted and completely discharge .the.,gr`ain 'into' thejhopper and at the turning machine end of the bed, may

.reach back under.the turningmachine close to the helicesv .and remove .alLthe grain at that end in ethencaselwithout needof; hand shoveling.

, A fur-thern objectof myy invention .rs..to,.provide .ea plow witha ,great .flexibility .of..movement, :powered byatsingle electric.motor,.=simply conntrolled by .one ,openator,..:durably. and `simply conpletely eliminates manual labor .-othenthan. that aofi the operatorfzand-which will substantially de- -:.-crease the timehowrequired to removethe grain i-rom' the bed.

Aifu'rther obj ectiofitmy :invention ,is toprovideV a wasmachine* Whi-ohranberea'd-ily :moved from .one bed ito'anotherf; so thatlaasinglermachine may suce lion-a number rofbe'ds.

The foregoing-fand "othernob'jects of :myl inven- :.rtionwill".:be` apparent .From-ithe followingfdescription of the invention taken in connection Withfthe :fannexedfdrawings 'in which fEigvlvis aplanlfview offlamaltingzbed of the Salad-in `system showin-g thep'it at :the-discharge eend,` the 'malting plow machine,Y andthe' turning machineat the foppositeend.

uFig. 2 is fasideelevation,fiwith parts broken :awayshcwn 'in section.

lFig. 3is an -enlarged' plan View'fof the'malting ""plow'ma'chine.

Fig. 4 Aisa `Vertical."sec'tiona1l View takeny on the Fig; 5 is azside"elevationat' the plow4 end of the' machine.

Fig. 6 is a sectionaldeta'il of the'jplowmembers and the immediate mechanism which elevates :and tilts them.

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of the gate of the malting bed.

Fig. 8 is an end view of the gate.

Referring to the drawings:

The malting bed is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. I designates the malt bed generally, 2 its bottom composed of two rows of relatively thin metal plates 2A; perforated by staggered slots 3 and supported by a metal frame not shown; 4 designates its sides, 5 the gate at the hopper end, 5 the opposite end, 'I the hopper and 8 the helical conveyor. rl'he malting bed is elevated from the floor by supports 9.

As shown in Figs. 4, 7 and 8, a steel beam of angle section having a short flange I2 and a longerl flange I2a is secured to each side wall 4 of malting bed I at its top, with flange I2 which provides a track for car wheels 23 extending sufficiently above the top of malting bed I to provide clearance for the flanges of car wheels 23.

Racks I3 provided with L shaped lugs I3a at intervals, are secured to flange |2a by bolts II, passing therethrough.

Tracks I2 and racks I3 extend the full length of malting bed I and project beyond its ends as shown in Figs 1 and 2. A notch |3I is cut in each track I2 partially across the width of track I2, said notches |3| being opposite each other, to permit car 24 to be lifted from the bed I when hooks |30, secured to side members 22 of car 24 are aligned with notches |3I, and to permit placing car 24 upon another bed with hooks |30 aligned with notches I3| in the tracks of that bed.

The turning machine is designated as I4, its helices as I5. Its wheels IB ride upon the track I2, and its traction gear I1 engages the rack I3. The grain mass is designated as I8 (Figs. 2 and 5).

The gate 5 ts inside the side walls of the bed. Two bars I9 of angle section are secured to the outside of the gate in parallel relationship and extend beyond the end walls. The horizontal ange of each bar I9 rests upon brackets 20 respectively secured to the outer ends of the sidewalls and gate 5 is held in place by pins 2| which extend through aligned holes in bars I9 and brackets 20.

24 designates the car member of the malting plow machine which is constructed with a pair of steel beams 22 of channel section spaced apart by spacing members 22a forming the side members of the car, the beams 22 of each pair being arranged with their anges turned outwardly. Car wheels 23 are mounted between the beams 22 of each pair on axles 25 which extend through the beams 22 in which they have their bearings 26.

Steel cross-beams 21 of channel section form the end members of car 24, and extend completely across the side beams 22, the lower corners of each beam 21 being notched to permit this, as shown in Fig. 4. Beams 22 and 21 are secured together by angle plates or other well knowny means, which it has been considered unnecessary to show. The position vertically of side beams 22 on cross-beams 21 is governed by the distance of the axis of car wheels 23 above track I2.

A metal plate 28 is mounted on the cross-beams 21 (Fig. 3) serving as a platform upon which the electric motor 29 is mounted, being secured by machine screws 30.

The electric motor 29 furnishes the power for all the operations of the malting plow machine, namely, the movement of the car back and forth `of hangers 5| of which racks 3| are mounted. The plow 32 consists of a plank having a length slightly less than the width of the bed and is secured to each lift 3|] through the medium of the inverted U- shaped socket 33 so as to be capable of a vertical resilient movement. A rod 34 may be embedded lin plow 32 and extends through a hole 35 in the top of socket 33. An expansion coil spring 36, surrounding guide 'rod 34, is mounted between the top edge of plow 32 and the top of socket 33, said spring normally forcing plow 32 downward. Sockets 33 and plow 32 are bored to receive the retaining machine screws 31 which pass through them into a threaded bore in lifts 30, the bores in plow 32 being in the form of vertical slots permitting plank 32 to move a short distance up and down. The purpose of this resilient mounting being to cushion the plow member assembly against shocks which might be encountered from an uneven condition of the plates 2a which frequently occurs.

Plow lifts 30 are mounted as follows: Intermediate the side members 22 of car 24, two pairs of spaced brackets 4I of T section are secured to the outer side of the web cross member 21. Shaft 40 is mounted with its bearings in the legs 42 of brackets 4I. Plow lifts 30 are hung from shaft 40 by two pairs of hangers 43, one pair of which is mounted in the space between one pair of brackets 4I and the other pair in the space between the other pair of brackets 4I. Each hanger 43 has a bore at one end to receive shaft 40 and is recessed at the opposite end to t over the flange of lift 30, providing a sliding fit on lift 30 and a rotatable fit on shaft 40. Each hanger 43 is separated from its opposite l hanger 43 by a pinion 44, keyed to shaft 40,

which meshes with rack 3| of lift 30.

Plow lifts 30 are also connected to rack bars by two pairs of hangers 5|, of the same type as hangers 43, one pair straddling the end of one rack bar 5U to which it is pivotally connected, and the other pair being similarly connected to the other rack bar 50, the free ends being recessed to fit over the ange of lift 30, as in the case of hangers 43, providing a sliding flt on lift 30.

Shaft 4D is part of the mechanism which elevates and lowers the lifts 30, and rack bars 50 are part of the mechanism which tilts or changes the pitch of the lifts 30, both of which mechanisms are later fully described.

The movement of car 24 on top of the bed is accomplished as follows: I

Shaft 52 of motor 29 is provided with a sprocket 53. A jack shaft 54 is mounted below and to the right (as seen in Fig. 5) of motor shaft 52, having a bearing at one end in the T section bracket secured to the inner side member 22 (Fig. 3) and at the other end in the upper projections 55a ofthe floating bearing member 56.

The jack shaft 54 is provided with a sprocket 51 and is driven by the chain belt 58 which passes around sprocket 53 on the motor shaft 52 and sprocket 51 on the jack shaft 54.

Jack shaft 54 is provided with a worm 59 at the right hand end of the shaft, as seen in |20, |2| freely mounted on shaft ||0 and which are respectively engaged as desired by clutch members |22 slidably mounted on shaft ||0 by key and keyway, this assembly of bevel gears and clutch members being the same type and operating in the same manner as that mounted on shaft 'l0 previously explained. The same type of forks and linkage system, terminating in hand control lever |25, to selectively place either bevel gear or |2| in driving relationship, is employed as heretofore described in connection with the mechanisms for driving car 24 and elevating or lowering plow lifts 30. This assembly comprises forks |22 pivotally attached to and depending from link |23, which is connected to hand control lever |25 by link |26, hand control lever |25 being fulcrumed to the outer side member 22 at |21 in alig-nment with fulcrum 81a of hand lever 81.

Shaft ||8 of bevel gear 9 carries 'a sprocket |28 directly underneath sprocket 66 on shaft 6|, the two sprockets being connected by the chain belt |29.

The operation of the said mechanisms for changing the pitch of the plow lifts is as follows:

Motor shaft 52 through chain drive 58 drives jack -shaft 54. Worm 59 of jack shaft 54 drives shaft 6| through worm gear 60 on the latter. Shaft 5| drives shaft ||8 of bevel gear ||9 through the chain drive |29. Bevel gear ||9 drives shaft l0 through Whichever of bevel gears |20 or |2| is engaged by a clutch member |22 by the movement of hand control lever |26 to the right or left (Fig. 4); pinions ||5 on shaft ||0 mesh with rack I6 of rack bars 50 thereby mov- ,l

ing it forward or back as the case may be, and through members 5|, plow lifts 30 are thrust forward or back in correspondence with the movement of rack bars 50, plow lifts 30 moving about their pivot on shaft 40.

To prevent the carriage from being lifted upward when the plow 32 is forced into the grain mass, hooks |30 are secured to and depend from the web of each outermost side member 22 and partially project under tracks |2.

As previously described tracks 2 at least at one place are partially notched at |3| so that when car 24 is brought in position with hooks |30 in alignment with notches |3|, the car 24 may be lifted from bed Notches |3| only partially extend into tracks |2 leaving part of the tracks -scribed without departing from the spirit of the at these points unimpaired so that car wheels 23 the plow will be pitched forward under the car.

At the opposite end of the malting bed where it becomes necessary for the plow to reach in under the turning machine the plow will be pitched accordingly so as to reach close to the helices'of the turning machine. The change of pitch of the plow will best be done by rst withdrawing the plow from the grain mass and then changing the pitch while the plow is' clear of the grain mass.

It is obvious that changes may be made in the embodiment of my invention hereinabove deinvention as defined in the appended claims.

1. A plow machine for use in plowing malting beds in the Saladin system of malting, comprising a car, a plurality of laterally spaced vertical lifts, each pivotally supported by two independent vertically spaced supports carried by said car through two independent connecting means each slidably mounted on said lift at vertically spaced positions thereon, one of said supports consisting of a transverse rotatable shaft and the other said support consisting of a longitudinally movable rack member, each said lift having a rack extending lengthwise thereof, a transverse plow secured to said lifts, drive means respectively mounted on said shaft support engaging the racks of said lifts, respectively, drive means, including clutch and reverse means for selectively driving said shaft and drive means for selectively moving said rack member support longitudinally.

2. A plow machine for use in plowing malting beds in the Saladin system of malting, comprising a car, a plurality of laterally spaced vertical lifts, two supports for each said lift separately mouted on said car at vertically spaced positions thereon, one of said supports comprising a rotatable transverse shaft and the other said support comprising a rack member slidably mounted in said car for longitudinal movement only, two separate connecting means for each said lift, one of said connecting means pivotally connecting said lift to said shaft and the other said connectnig means pivotally connecting said lift to said rack member, both said connecting means being slidably connected to said lift at vertically spaced positions thereon, each said lift having a rack extending lengthwise thereof, a transverse plow secured to said lifts, drive means mounted on said shaft respectively engaging the racks of said lifts, drive means, including clutch and reverse means, carried by said car for rotating said shaft, a second transverse rotatable shaft carried by said ear having drive means thereon respectively engaging said rack members, drive means, including clutch and reverse means mounted on said second shaft, carried by said car, for rotating said shaft and causing a longitudinal movement of said rack members in either direction.

3. A malting plow machine fol` use in removing the grain mass from malting beds in the Saladin system of malting, comprising a car provided with impelling means for traversing the top of the malting bed, a pair of laterally spaced vertical lifts, two Supports for each said lift separately mounted on said car at vertically spaced positions thereon, one of said supports comprising a rotatable transverse shaft and the other said support comprising a rack bar slidably mounted in said car for longitudinal movement only, two separate connecting means for each said lift, one

of said connecting means pivotally connecting said lift to said shaft and the other said connecting means pivotally connecting said lift to said rack bar, both said connecting means being slidably connected to said lift-l at vertically spaced positions thereon, each said lift having a rack extending lengthwise thereof, a transverse plow secured to the lower ends of said lifts, the length of said lifts being such that said plow may be raised from the bottom of said malting bed clear of the grain mass therein, gears upon said shaft respectively engaging the racks of said lifts, drive means including clutch and reverse means carried by said car for rotating said shaft and means 9 carried by said car for moving said rack bars longitudinally.

4. A malting plow machine for use in removing the grain mass from malting beds in the Saladin system of malting, comprising a car provided with impelling means for traversing the top of the malting bed, a pair of laterally spaced vertical lifts, two supports for each said lift separately mounted on said car at vertically spaced positions thereon, one of said supports comprising 9, rotatable transverse shaft and the other said support comprising a rack bar slidably mounted in said car for longitudinal movement only, two separate connecting means for each said lift, one of said connecting means pivotally connecting said lift to said shaft and the other said connecting means pivotally connecting said lift to said rack bar, both said connecting means being slidably connected to said lift at vertically spaced positions thereon, each said lift having a rack extending lengthwise thereof, a transverse plow secured to the lower ends of said lifts, the length of said lifts being such that said plow may be raised from the bottom of said malting bed clear of the grain mass therein, gears upon said shaft respectively engaging the racks of said lifts, drive means, including clutch and reverse means, carried by said car for rotating said shaft, a second transverse rotatable shaft carried by said car belowisaid rst named transverse shaft, gears mounted upon said second transverse shaft respectively engaging said rack bars, drive means, including clutch and reverse means mounted on said second transverse shaft, carried by said car for rotating said second transverse shaft and causing a longitudinal movement of said rack bars in either direction.

5. A malting plow machine comprising a car, a motor mounted in said car, traction means carried by said car, a hand controlled selective drive means carried by said car connected with said'motor and traction means, a pair of laterally spaced vertical lifts, each pivotally supported by a rotatable transverse shaft carried by said car and also supported by a rack bar slidably mounted on said car independently of the mounting of said shaft for longitudinal movement only below the plane of the axis of said shaft, two separate connecting means for each said lift, one of which is pivotally mounted on said shaft and slidably mounted on said lift, and the other being pivotally mounted on said rack bar and slidably mounted on said lift, each said lift having a rack extending lengthwise thereof,

a transverse plow secured to the lower ends of said lifts, the length of said lifts being such that said plow may be raised from the bottom of said malting bed clear of the grain mass therein, gears upon said shaft respectively engaging the racks of said lifts, a second hand controlled selective drive means carried by said car and connected to said motor for rotating said shaft, a second rotatable transverse shaft carried by said car below said rst transverse shaft, pinions mounted on said second transverse shaft respectively engaging said rack bars, a third hand controlled selective drive means carried by said car and said second transverse shaft for rotating said last named shaft to cause longitudinal movement of said rack bars.

6. A malting plow machine for use in removing the grain mass for malting beds in the Saladin system of malting, comprising a car provided with impelling means for traversing the top of the malting bed, a pair of laterally spaced vertical lifts each having a rack extending lengthwise thereof, two supports for each said lift separately mounted on said car at vertically spaced positions thereon, one of said supports comprising a rotatable transverse shaft having gears thereon respectively engaging said racks, and the other said support comprising a rack bar slidably mounted in said car for longitudinal movement only, two pairs of hangers for each said lift, the hangers of one of said pairs being pivotally mounted on said shaft on opposite sides of one of said gears thereon, and slidably engaging the opposite sides of said lift, the hangers of the other of said pairs being pivotally mounted on said rack bar and slidably engaging the opposite sides of said lift, the said lift engaging positions of said pairs being vertically spaced, a transverse plow secured to the lower ends of said lifts, the length of said lifts being such that said plow may be raised from the bottom of said malting bed clear of the grain mass therein, drive means, including clutch and reverse means, carried by said car for rotating said shaft, a second transverse rotatable shaft carried by said car, gears mounted upon said'second transverse shaft respectively engaging said rack bars, drive means, including clutch and reverse means mounted on said second transverse shaft, carried by said car for rotating said second transverse shaft and causing a longitudinal movement of said rack bars in either direction.

DAVID GRIMALDI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Kinney et al. Aug. 27, 1946 

